Aviation Naval Warfare Land Systems Small Arms By Flag By Year By Tag

Hawker P.1005

1942 WORLD WAR 2 X-PLANE

Hawker P. 1005 History

Hawke Aircraft, which rose to prominence during World War II, is mainly remembered for its contribution to the classic Hawker Hurricane monoplane - it was the true star of the Battle of Britain. Before that, it rose to prominence with several notable biplane fighters of the 1920s and 1930s.

When the opportunity came in late 1940 to design and develop a new high-speed light bomber for the Royal Air Force (RAF), the company would take the company in a whole new direction.

The resulting design, the P. 1005, matched another twin-engine development of the time - the famous de Havilland DH. 98 "Mosquito." Both types are designed around the concepts of light bombers and long-range fighters, where speed is the best quality to help platforms avoid enemy air defenses and interceptors. This means an aerodynamically refined lightweight body, with a twin-engine layout producing considerable power. Additionally, the aircraft needed to meet tight weight tolerances to support the required performance while still being able to deploy powerful weapons for both roles.

Early considerations put the expected top speed at 400 mph with a bomb load of around 4,000 pounds.

In December 1940, P.1005 was quickly created and submitted to the Air Department for review. Engineers used new liquid-cooled Napier Sabre IV inline piston engines (2,180 hp each) for propulsion, and an optional feature of the aircraft was a power-operated, retractable four-gun (4 x .30 Browning) dorsal turret with in self-defense.

The retractable nature of this weapon system allows the aircraft to maintain its streamlined character. Air Department officials liked what they saw and created Specification B.11/41 in December 1941 to support the development of hawkers.

About 1,000 new light bombers are planned for production, but progress is being made on the competing DH. Project 98 dampened the excitement surrounding P.1005. In addition, Hawker and the RAF remain fully committed to Hawker's other aircraft production plans.

Nonetheless, a pair of P. 1005 prototypes were ordered, and a full-scale model is being built. It soon became apparent that the Napier Sabre engine under development would not be ready for the aircraft anytime soon - forcing the P. 1005 to rely instead on the Bristol Centaurus engine, further reducing the operational potential of the twin-engine platform, further constrained.

However, despite this, production hopes for the P. 1005 were cancelled in June 1942, thus ending work on two prototypes (the prototypes were only completed and partially inspected in February of that year). While P. 1005 came to an end in aviation history, DH.

98 had a distinguished war and postwar career. Meanwhile, Hawke focused on the production and development of fighter jets until it was acquired in 1963 as part of Hawke Sidley.

By design, the P. 1005 used the traditional twin-engine layout as the aircraft of the time. The cockpit is located behind a short nose cone that tapers into the rear wing. The rear wing consists of a horizontal plane with circular fins spanning the entire structure. The wing main aircraft are mounted on the front of the fuselage, each containing an engine unit. The engine drives the four-bladed propeller unit.

The general design of the main aircraft is straight, with rounded wingtips. Tail-trailed landing gear completes the aircraft's equipment list.

Heavy fighter form will carry a barrage of 6 x 20mm autocannons, presumably in the nose. Both fighter and light bomber models should be equipped with an optional 4-barrel machine gun turret. The bomber's nose may also be armed with 2 x .30 caliber machine guns.

The bomb load was close to 4,000 pounds.